Animated greeting card



\ Iune 8, 1954 M. D. YOUNGREN ANIMATED GREETING. CARD Filed March 1'7,1952 INVENTOR. Milfon D. Houngren.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented June 8, 1954 ANIMATED GREETING CARD Milton D. .Youngren,Glencoe, :IlL, assignor to Hall Brothers, Inc., Kansas City, Moa-corporation of. Missouri Application March 17, 1952, Serial marital-(01. 46-37) 4 Claims. '1

This invention relates to improvements in novelties and moreparticularly to cards or folders for use in extending greetings, makingannounce- "ments and other purposes.

The principal object ofthe invention is to pro- 'vide a new-andimprovedmedium, suc'has a card, with parts of a figure representing variouscharacters movably secured to the face of thecard in such a manner as toproduce the effect of animation of the characters, or a gesture orgrimace when moved in the intended manner.

' ther objects of the invention are to provide a-ca-rd of thischaractermade from heavy paper,

cardboard or the like having representations mounted thereon and partsof "the card being adapted to cooperate with each other so as to impartrelative movement to certain parts of the representation; to provide anovel entertaining medium of this character which may be applicable foruse on various greeting cards, advertising matter or the like; and toprovidea 'device of this character consisting of a piece of paper,cardboard or the like having fo'ld'lines, so that parts of the card willfold over each other, one of the folded yparts having a longitudinalslot therein and the other part adapted to engage therein so that theparts maybe movable toward and away 'from'each-other upon compressionofthe back of the card, andhaving connection with the representations onone of the folded portions whereby the representation may 'be animatedor moved upon movement of the respective folded over sheets.

Still another object of the invention is to provide the front of thecard with parts of char- "acters and the tongue or tab underneaththereof with parts of the character, the front having openings thereinwhereby the character will change expression upon movement of therespective parts of the card.

In accomplishing these and other objects or the invention, Ihaveprovided improved details of structure the preferred forms of which are11- lustratedin the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a front'elevation'al view of a card embodying the features ofthe present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the card shown in Fig. 1 showing adifferent expression of the character shown thereon.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary viewparticularly illustrating the slot formovement of the movable parts.

Fig. 4 is a further fragmentary View showing .the islets with themovable ,parts 'in a different position.

Referring more in detail to'the drawings: 7

l designates "a device "embodying the features of my inventioncomprising a sheet of cardboard or the like 2 having fold lines 3 and 4so lt'hatthe cardboard can be folded over forming-a back "5,affrontsection 6 having'a longitudinal slot! near its free edge be'stiliustrated in Figs. 1 and "2.

The cardboard is cut away on each end as in- 'dicatedat S and 9 (Fig.1), and the sheetfolded =over the fold line -'4 forming a flap orintermediate section 10 adapted to be inserted in the slot 7 in thefront section 5 of the card. The front section fi is'slig-htly'narrowerthanthe back 5, and the flap or intermediate section 10 exteniis *alongthe hack portion 'of thedrontfi a illustrated in Fig. 4, and is alsoslightly narrower than the back 5.

being closer together than the lower portions of the slots. It will'benoted the slots 94 and 95 are curved slightly'as best illustrated inFigs. 3 and 4. "Slots 96 and '9'! are provided in the'intermediate ilapHi and areslightly curved as are the slotsEM and 95. The slots '96 and97 in the intermediate portion are so arranged that they will movebeliind'the sl'ots "9'4 and'ilii in theface of the card '6 when theintermediate portion i0 is moved vertically. Tabs '93 and Q9 simulatingears for the'animal 92 are provided having enlarged portions extendingon the outer face o'f'the card and tapered at the inner end to form armsI69 which extend through the openings 94 and -91, 9.5 and 96,respectively, of the face 5 and intermediate portion it] of the card.The inner ends of the arms are provided with outwardly extending tabslfll and I02 to retain the tabs or ears 98 and 99 in said slots.

Animation of the animal 'or 'chara'cter'is-accomplished 'bythe thumb andfinger on the edges. 24 and 25 of the card and vertical movement ofthefiap or intermediate section It! will cause the tabs 98 and 99simulating ears to be removed angularly from the eye openings 93disclosing eyes Hi3 and {04 outlined on the front face of theintermediate section adjacent the eye openings 93. The natural spring ofthe back 5 of the card will cause the card to assume its originalposition "lowering the 't'absllll and!!! "simulating the ears of theanimal over the eye openings and moving the eyes from back of the eyeopenings.

It will be noted that the back section 5, front section B, andintermediate section are normally flat and provide interconnectedmembers with the front and intermediate members being reciprocablerelative to each other and the back member being adapted to bowoutwardly under pressure applied to the connecting edges when thefrontand intermediate members are moved in one direction of reciprocation. Itis also obvious that the tabs I01 and I02 provide stops which cooperatewith the exterior portion of the tabs 93 and 99 to retain the animatedmembers, in this illustrated instance the ears of the animal, within theslots 94-95 and 96-91.

It is also obvious that when the back member bows outwardly it opens upa space to accommodate swinging movement of the stops and the free endsof the arms or tongues I00, and also provides an activating force toreturn the front and intermediate members to their original position.

It will be obvious that in the form of the invention shown here,movement of the card may be either slow or fast, as desired by theoperator thereof, the material used having resiliency so that there is aspring action to the back.

While I have here depicted a certain character on the face of the card,it will be obvious that other forms and characters may be depicted andvarious ways utilized for showing animation thereof without departingfrom the spirit of my invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1, An article of the character described comprising a piece of cardboardfolded to form a back section, a front section connected along one edgethereof the front section having a longitudinal slot near its free edge,an additional section connected to and extending along the opposite edgeof the back section and extending over the free edge of the frontsection and downwardly through said slot, the outline of an animalineluding a head on the front face of the front section provided withspaced openings for the eyes of said animal, said head having spacedslightly curved slots extending at an angle to each other above andoutwardly from said openings, ear members having arm portions extendingthrough said slots, said ear members simulating the ears of said animaland lying over the eye openings when the card is in normal position,said additional section having slots of the same contour as said slotsin the front face of said card, said arms extending through said slotsin the additional section, tongues on the inner ends of said arms forretaining the ear members in said slots, said additional section havingan outline of eyes of the animal adjacent said eye openings in the frontface of the card whereby squeezing pressure applied to the folded edgesof said sections will cause sliding movement of the front and additionalsections and the back section to bow outwardly, the additional sectionmoving said arms causing the ears of said animal to be removed from overthe eye portions and the outline of the eyes to be visible through saideye openings and whereby release of pressure on the folded edges of saidsections will allow said back of the card to return to normal positioncausing the ears to'be lowered over the eye openings.

2. An article of the character described comprising, a piece ofcardboard folded to form a back section, a front section connected alongone edge thereof, the front section having a longitudinal slot near itsfree edge, an additional section connected to and extending along theopposite edge of the back section and extending over the free edge ofthe front section and downwardly through said slot, the outline of ananimal including a head on the front face of the front section providedwith spaced openings for the eyes of said animal, said head havingspaced slots extending at opposite angles to each otherabove saidopenings, the upper ends of said slots terminating on a linesubstantially centrally of said eye openings and the lower ends of theslots terminating outwardly of and slightly above said eye openings, earmembers having arm portions extending through said slots, said earmembers simulating the ears of said animal and lying over the eyeopenings when the card is in normal position, said additional sectionhaving slots of the same contour as said slots in the front face of saidcard, said arms extending through said slots in the additional section,tongues on the inner ends of said arms for retaining the ears in saidslots, said additional section having an outline of eyes of the animaladjacent said eye openings in the front face of the card wherebysqueezing pressure on the folded edges of said sections will causesliding movement of the front and additional sections and the backsection to bow outwardly causing the ear members of said animal to beremoved from over the eye portions and the outline of the eyes to bevisible through said eye openings, said back of the card being undertension whereby release of the squeezing pressure will cause the card toassume normal position causing the ear members to be lowered over theeye openings.

3. An animated card including generally rectangular front and backmembers and an additional member formed of normally flat material, saidback member having one side edge connected with a corresponding sideedge of the additional member and the opposite side edge connected witha corresponding side edge of the front mmeber, the opposite side edge ofthe additional member being free and spaced from said side edgeconnection of the front member when the back member is in normally flatcondition, the front member having a part thereof slidingly embracingand guiding the additional member and for retaining the additional andfront members in reciprocating contact with each other, said front andadditional members each having an aperture with the aperture of thefront member offset from the aperture of the additional membersubstantially in the direction of reciprocation of said front andadditional members, the front member having a representation thereon ofa figure, an animating member having an exterior portion normally lyingsubstantially fiat against the outer face of the front member andrepresenting a normally movable element of said figure, said animatedmember having a narrower tongue portion extending through both of saidapertures and normally lying flat between the front and additionalmembers when the back member is in said normally fiat condition butbeing adapted to pivot within said apertures when the front andadditional members are reciprocated to shift said apertures to and fromeach other for swinging said exterior portion away from the outer faceof the front member, and a stop on the tongue lying substantially fiatbetween the additional and back members when the back member is in saidnormally flat condition to cooperate with said exterior portion inretaining said animating member, said back member being adapted to bowoutwardly for opening up a space to accommodate movement of said stopwhen a squeezing force is applied to said connected edges for efiectingmovement of the front and additional members in one direction ofreciprocation and to provide an active force for moving the additionaland front members in the opposite direction when the back member returnsto said normally fiat condition upon release of said pressure.

4. An animated card including generally rectangular front and backmembers and an additional member formed of normally fiat material, saidback member having one side edge connected with a corresponding sideedge of the additional member and the opposite side edge connected witha corresponding side edge of the front member, the opposite side edge ofthe additional member being free and spaced from said side edgeconnection of the front member when the back member is in normally flatcondition, the front member having a slot extending along said oppositeside edge for passing the additional member therethrough and to providea part slidsenting a normally movable element of said figure, saidanimated member having a narrower tongue portion extending through bothof said apertures and normally lying fiat between the front andadditional members when the back member is in said normally flatcondition but being adapted to pivot within said apertures when thefront and additional members are reciprocated to shift said apertures toand from each other for swinging said exterior portion away from theouter face of the front member, and a stop on the tongue lyingsubstantially fiat between the additional and back members when the backmember is in said normally flat condition to cooperate with saidexterior portion in retaining said animating member, said back memberbeing adapted to bow outwardly for opening up a space to accommodatemovement of said stop when a squeezing force is applied to saidconnected edges for effecting movement of the front and additionalmembers in one direction of reciprocation and to provide an active forcefor moving the additional and front members in the opposite directionwhen the back member returns to said normally fiat condition uponrelease of said pressure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 850,150 Glazier Apr. 16, 1907 882,150 Kinnicutt Mar. 17, 19081,563,548 Brashear Dec. 1, 1925 2,315,056 Holden Mar. 30, 1943 2,384,662Wehr Sept. 11, 1945 2,432,318 Leech Dec. 9, 1947 2,554,098 Eisner May22, 1951

